Bob McKenzie Mid-Season Draft Ranking

[MrCreamm]

Only three Americans in the first round, not a good year for US hockey it seems. Bob has ~18 Canadians going in the first round. Sweden only has ONE player projected to go in the first, that's terrible for a hockey nation of their significance.

 

[MS]

Only three Americans in the first round, not a good year for US hockey it seems. Bob has ~18 Canadians going in the first round. Sweden only has ONE player projected to go in the first, that's terrible for a hockey nation of their significance.

There will be a big shift after the U18s as always seems to happen. Sweden had 2 consensus 1st rounders heading into that tournament last year and ended up with 6 guys taken in the 1st round.

 

[Frk It]

There will be a big shift after the U18s as always seems to happen. Sweden had 2 consensus 1st rounders heading into that tournament last year and ended up with 6 guys taken in the 1st round.

Is that a regular thing though?

I also feel like a lot of the Swedes who are being underrated (and could benefit from more exposure) in this draft are late birthdates and wont be playing at the U18s (Zether, Gidlof, Fransen, etc)

Maybe Freij could work his way into the 1st round with a good U18... not sure what others?

 

[WarriorofTime]

Only three Americans in the first round, not a good year for US hockey it seems. Bob has ~18 Canadians going in the first round. Sweden only has ONE player projected to go in the first, that's terrible for a hockey nation of their significance.

Depth is pretty good in USA, just not much at the high-end of things this year. Usually you get about 6 Americans that go first round, which I suppose could happen. Gonna be some fluctuation to that. Only 2 went 1st round in 2020 (5th and 28th).

There's usually a shakeup by end of year, U18s in particular.

 

[landy92mack29]

I’ve been waiting for Catton to shoot up towards 2 and it’s just not happening. He’s Benson but even more talented and more projectable - and it looks more and more likely that he’s going to be an immediate steal somewhere between 8 and 12. A decent team on the rise, like Seattle or Arizona, is probably going to consolidate their future success by snagging him.

18 Canadians projected in the first round is nice to see. Second place goes to Russia with 4.

9 whlers projected in the 1st...surprised Roberts only a HM and no Caswell though

 

[Sasha Orlov]

If someone actually gets Demidov at 6 NHL GMs are bonafide bozos

 

[Scintillating10]

I’ve been waiting for Catton to shoot up towards 2 and it’s just not happening. He’s Benson but even more talented and more projectable - and it looks more and more likely that he’s going to be an immediate steal somewhere between 8 and 12. A decent team on the rise, like Seattle or Arizona, is probably going to consolidate their future success by snagging him.

18 Canadians projected in the first round is nice to see. Second place goes to Russia with 4.

Catton could be this years Benson. Offensive skilled but slid due to size

 

[Evgeny Oliker]

I didn’t get a sense from this article as to how this draft compares to last years draft.

Is it on par in terms of talent and depth?

 

[Bubbles]

Catton could be this years Benson. Offensive skilled but slid due to size

He's not even that small. He's 5'11. Might even be 6'0 by the end of the year.

 

[PAZ]

If this is accurate, add me to another that doesn’t understand why NHL teams are so low on Catton. Silayev and Lindstrom ahead of Catton and Demidov could look terrible in 5 years.

C/D >>> W.

If teams see both of them translating as wingers rather than centers it's understandable.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

C/D >>> W.

If teams see both of them translating as wingers rather than centers it's understandable.

I don't think Lindstrom has the playmaking and sense for center.

Meanwhile, I don't know why Catton wouldn't be a center. He's at least an inch taller than players like Hughes and Bedard, skates better than Bedard, skates as well as Hughes, and plays defense better than both of them.

For Demidov, I understand your point. I also wouldn't advise passing up on a player with his offensive potential for the theory of a center or defenseman. I think teams made that mistake this past draft with Michkov, and will be paying for that mistake for his whole career.

 

[TheDoldrums]

Beckett Sennecke at 19 surprised me a bit. I watched an Oshawa game live recently and he really didn't stand out like I would expect out of a mid-1st rounder.

 

[57special]

The least discussed player in the top 10 is Helenius, but he seems to have his share of supporters, even though he is a tad smaller than Catton, and plays wing.

I can easily see a big RD like Yakemchuk get picked in the top 10, and Buium also, if he keeps up his production, and measures above 6' in the combine. I can definitely see both jumping Parekh, though I can't say that the latter is overrated. Crazy year for Dmen.

Don't see Jiricek maintaining his position if he's out for the rest of the year.

 

[Slats432]

If the draft was today based on this ranking, SJ getting Celebrini and Buium would be the first good thing to happen in a while for this team.

 

[erikhamren]

Only three Americans in the first round, not a good year for US hockey it seems. Bob has ~18 Canadians going in the first round. Sweden only has ONE player projected to go in the first, that's terrible for a hockey nation of their significance.

Swedens prospects next year draft looks way better. Frondell and Ekberg are two prospects that we can compare to Raymond and Holtz when looking at point production so far. So we are not worried

 

[Hinterland]

The least discussed player in the top 10 is Helenius, but he seems to have his share of supporters, even though he is a tad smaller than Catton, and plays wing.

I can easily see a big RD like Yakemchuk get picked in the top 10, and Buium also, if he keeps up his production, and measures above 6' in the combine. I can definitely see both jumping Parekh, though I can't say that the latter is overrated. Crazy year for Dmen.

Gotta watch more of Parekh but from what I've seen I'd be shocked if he goes ahead of Yakemchuk. Parekh's play against the puck may have improved but from what I've seen he's still allergic to contact while Yakemchuk knows how to use his frame. When evaluating their offensive impact then we should also take into account the teams they play for. Yes, Parekh is a much better skater but other than that I think Yakemchuk has similiar, if not higher upside.

 

[erikhamren]

Is that a regular thing though?

I also feel like a lot of the Swedes who are being underrated (and could benefit from more exposure) in this draft are late birthdates and wont be playing at the U18s (Zether, Gidlof, Fransen, etc)

Maybe Freij could work his way into the 1st round with a good U18... not sure what others?

Im sure Pettersson is the only ''clear'' swedish forward that can go first round. Freij and Sahlin Wallenius as the defencemen..

Think we will have a tough time at the U18 WJC. Hope the coach brings 2-3 07's. Not only Frondell

 

[sigx15]

Depth is pretty good in USA, just not much at the high-end of things this year. Usually you get about 6 Americans that go first round, which I suppose could happen. Gonna be some fluctuation to that. Only 2 went 1st round in 2020 (5th and 28th).

There's usually a shakeup by end of year, U18s in particular.

Ya I don't think it'd be surprising to see any of Emery, Skahan, Huston or Bednarik end up in the 1st round

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Ya I don't think it'd be surprising to see any of Emery, Skahan, Huston or Bednarik end up in the 1st round

The people he spoke with seemed very low on the American players and everyone other than the Canadians, so either it's a terrible crop for every country other than Canada or as I suggested elsewhere he's lost his touch (after not really being active in hockey for a few years now) in accurately predicting the draft order. 18 Canadians seems like a lot. It doesn't seem to be a strong crop for any of the CHL leagues.

Number of Canadians last 6 drafts:

2023: 12
2022: 9
2021: 18
2020: 19
2019: 13
2018: 10

It's not unprecedented for 18, but it would need to be a very strong year. Some of these guys he has in the late first like Basha, Howe, Parascak, Beaudoin, Sennecke, Ritchie, Luchanko are bubble firsts. That they would all be ranked in the first again makes me think he's probably lost some of his contacts and doesn't have the best grasp. Probably easier for someone like him that he would keep his CHL contacts that would pump up the players in their region than his contacts in other leagues and countries, along with the senior scouts for teams that I'm not buying this is what their lists look like.

 

[Juniorhockeyguru]

Be interesting to see how much Harrison Brunicke will rise. 8-10-18 Pts and only a -13 on a pretty bad Kamloops team.

 

[Hinterland]

The people he spoke with seemed very low on the American players and everyone other than the Canadians, so either it's a terrible crop for every country other than Canada or as I suggested elsewhere he's lost his touch (after not really being active in hockey for a few years now) in accurately predicting the draft order. 18 Canadians seems like a lot. It doesn't seem to be a strong crop for any of the CHL leagues.

Number of Canadians last 6 drafts:

2023: 12
2022: 9
2021: 18
2020: 19
2019: 13
2018: 10

It's not unprecedented for 18, but it would need to be a very strong year. Some of these guys he has in the late first like Basha, Howe, Parascak, Beaudoin, Sennecke, Ritchie, Luchanko are bubble firsts. That they would all be ranked in the first again makes me think he's probably lost some of his contacts and doesn't have the best grasp. Probably easier for someone like him that he would keep his CHL contacts that would pump up the players in their region than his contacts in other leagues and countries, along with the senior scouts for teams that I'm not buying this is what their lists look like.

Yeah, looks like a rather strange list but I feel like there's always a lot of movement between the midterm rankings and the final list. I wouldn't be surprised if his final list is gonna be more balanced.

 

[Zarzh]

To me Catton is a pretty straight-ahead 2C projection. And that's a compliment.

It's a balance. I think most people here get too enamored with who is most likely to generate the highest GP and point totals if you plug things into a spreadsheet (and I'll freely admit to being one of those people 10 years ago) over trying to get the most valuable assets to build winning teams.

If HFBoards built a team through drafting you'd end up with 12 sub-6'0 skill forwards and 6 smallish PP QBs on D.

And in the case of Lindstrom, it's not like he's just tools with no production. Dude was on pace for one of the biggest WHL goalscoring seasons for a draft-eligible player in the last 25 years until he got hurt. And he's a guy on an absolute ripper of a development curve showing huge improvement year over year.

I don't particularly like Lindstrom, he's fine at 5 or 6.

I would hate Catton in the top 5. He's fine if you're taking him as a complimentary piece, but not as a foundational piece. I'd respect a team taking him top 5 more for saying he'd score 150 on a better team, than saying "our spreadsheets said he'd score the most points at this pick".

 

[Czechboy]

Fischer (who I will insist is Czech till he dons the red white and blue) was p
Lower than I thought.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Fransen continues to be mentioned nowhere but here.

Surprised Poirier wasn't even a HM

 

[king89]

The least discussed player in the top 10 is Helenius, but he seems to have his share of supporters, even though he is a tad smaller than Catton, and plays wing.

I can easily see a big RD like Yakemchuk get picked in the top 10, and Buium also, if he keeps up his production, and measures above 6' in the combine. I can definitely see both jumping Parekh, though I can't say that the latter is overrated. Crazy year for Dmen.

Don't see Jiricek maintaining his position if he's out for the rest of the year.

Helenius doesn't play wing, he's a center and plays center for his Liiga team too.